This invention relates to a sanitary device for a toilet and, more particularly, to a handle attachment for raising or lowering a toilet seat without touching the seat proper.
Raising and lowering a toilet seat by manually grasping an edge or underside of the seat is undesirable in that the underside of the seat tends to be unsanitary due to its proximity to the toilet bowl itself. Germs which reside on the toilet seat may be transferred to users who raise or lower the seat before or after use, particularly since the toilet is not usually sanitized following each use.
Various devices have been proposed in the art for lifting a toil et seat without touching the seat itself. Each device proposed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,805,246 to De Vargas et al, U.S. Pat. No. 4,920,586 to Giallourakis, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,062 to Gibson et al include a handle or lifting means adhesively attached to the underside of a toilet seat. Although assumably effective in operation, the adhesive is stretched, strained, or otherwise taxed each time the handle is engaged to lift the seat, the strain being caused by the weight of the seat and possibly a lack of gentleness by the user. Over time, it is anticipated that the adhesive means of attachment will fail and the lifting means will require replacement.
In addition, a repositionable toilet seat handle is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,472 to Goodman having a pair of clamps which cooperate with a threaded bolt to removably engage a toilet seat. While assumably effective for adjusting the position of the handle, the device requires numerous parts which may become loose during use or repositioning, causing the device to lose its position or fall off the seat. Further, it is anticipated that the threaded bolt will become rusty due to its exposure to the moist and unsanitary underside of the toilet seat, the rust eventually inhibiting proper screwable positioning of the clamping elements. U.S. Pat. No. 3,191,193 presents a clamping arrangement with a spring mounted to the underside of the seat which is disadvantageous for the same reasons described above.
Thus, it is desirable to have a handle attachment for lifting a toilet seat which is adhesively attachable to the underside of a toilet seat and which includes a seat grasping mechanism for reducing the strain on the adhesive attachment means. It is further desirable that no movable elements of the handle attachment be exposed to the moist or unsanitary parts of the toilet bowl or seat.